The "Whole Package"

"If you've seen her, you've seen her mother."  Have you ever heard anyone say that?  The comment can refer to mannerisms, gestures, ways of speaking or physical appearance.  Some children look so much like their parents it is uncanny!

Jesus said to His disciples that since they had seen Him, they had seen God the Father. (John 14:9)

I suppose some, reading that statement, could "take it" as I described above.  But, that would be a mistake.  Jesus doesn't just "look like" or "act like" God.  He IS God, fully.

In Colossians 1:19 and 2:9 Paul continues to put forward a correct explanation of who Jesus Christ is, in order to counter the error that was beginning to be propagated in Colosse by the Gnostics.  The Gnostics taught that angels were something they are not, and that Jesus was less than He was.  The Gnostics would not deny Jesus' importance, but they would deny Him the throne to which He is entitled.  They did not discount Christianity, but judged it incomplete.  Paul emphatically refuted that position/philosophy.  Look at Paul's inspired words in these two verses.

19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son

9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

"All His fullness".  The Greek word translated "fullness" is "pleroma", a term used often by the Gnostics.  (So, Paul was using their own terminology against them!) The term meant "the sum total of all the divine power and attributes."1

The totality of the Trinity is in Jesus Christ.  He is the "whole package".

Now, back to the larger context, Colossians 1:17-23...

15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Verse 18, which states the Jesus Christ IS the beginning hearkens back to verse 15, where he is called the "firstborn" over all creation.  Not created, He was and is "the beginning", or as He refers to Himself in the book of Revelation "the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (Revelation 22:13 NIV).

Not only that, He is the "firstborn from among the dead".  The apostle John mentions this same attribute in Revelation 1:5.  What does that mean?  It is clear from Scripture that others had been raised from the dead, some by Jesus Himself during His earthly ministry.

However, Jesus was "the firstfruits of them that slept", (1 Corinthians 15:20) that is, He was the first to be raised from death to immortality by God the Father.  In that, as in all things, He has the supremacy.
In his landmark book, Earthquake Resurrection, David W. Lowe2 describes the Bible's six resurrections from death to immortality.  They are:
1.  Jesus' resurrection
2.  The resurrection of the "many saints" in Jerusalem, after Jesus' resurrection (Matthew 27:50-54).
3.  The resurrection of the dead-in-Christ (I Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54)
4.  The resurrection of the "two witnesses" (Revelation 11:3-13)
5.  The resurrection of martyrs from Daniel's 70th week, i.e. the Great Tribulation (Revelation 20:4)
6.  The resurrection of "the rest of the dead" (Revelation 20:5 and Daniel 12:2-3)
This distinguishes Jesus from all others.  In this, too, He has the pre-eminent position, the supremacy.

He also is the head of the church, which He established through His death, burial and resurrection. That will be the topic of tomorrow's post, as we continue to explore the Person of Jesus Christ.


Sources:

1   Wiersbe, Warren W., and Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete New Testament in One Volume. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007. Print, p. 670

2  Lowe, David W. Earthquake Resurrection: Supernatural Catalyst for the Coming Global Catastrophe. Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C., 2005. Print.